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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25582054">let's get together (before we get much older)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiaras/pseuds/jiaras'>jiaras</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jiara Week [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Outer Banks (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)-centric, Jiara July, Kiara Has Feelings For JJ (Outer Banks), Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:55:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25582054</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiaras/pseuds/jiaras</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(Jiara Week day 3: AU Day)<br/>Jiara College AU</p><p>‘’You again’’ He said with a half smirk at the exact same time she yelled out ‘’I need your pants.’’</p><p>His baby blue eyes widened, and a small group of girls that had been passing by giggled at the interaction. ‘’Excuse me?’’ He asked, not quite sure if he had heard her right.</p><p>‘’I really, really need your pants right now.’’ She rambled as the boy looked at her head to toe in a failed attempt to make sense of what the hell was going on. </p><p>‘’At least buy me dinner first.’’</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>JJ &amp; Kiara (Outer Banks), JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jiara Week [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Jiara July Jubilee, Jiara Ocean Kiss Soulmate Endgame Excellence (aka a jiara-centric fic collection)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>let's get together (before we get much older)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Last year, Kiara remembered feeling like a kindergartener going off on her first day of school as her father’s Jeep crossed the stone gate into the Gryffon State University campus. She had brought way too many clothing items (most of the stuff she had had to either donate or sell on eBay, as they simply couldn’t fit inside her tiny door room’s closet), wore a silly shirt that her mom had custom made herself (GSU FRESHMAN in all caps and an ugly cursive font), and carried a bright yellow eco bag filled with Tupperware.</p><p>This time around, she still had her <em>Tupperware bag</em> — as Sarah started calling it, at some point. I mean, who did she want to kid? The cafeteria food sucked, and that morning she had put her parents’ kitchen to use and baked at least a dozen servings of peanut butter scones, funfetti cupcakes, buttermilk biscuits and ginger cookies — it’s not like she’d just let them go to waste.</p><p>She barely had any luggage, though, only a hiking bag on her shoulders that she had gotten as a Christmas gift, and didn’t wear any pieces of clothing with the word <em> freshman </em> in them. It felt like progress, somehow. She already knew her way around the campus, had a list of all the classes and professors she should stay away from, and felt comfortable enough with her own little group of friends — well, Sarah, and that’s pretty much it, but <em> still</em>. It’s not as if she had that many friends in high school, anyway.</p><p>If you had told Kiara right at the beginning of last year that she’d end up being best friends with Sarah Cameron, she’d have laughed in your face. She still had the clear image of walking into the room they’d be sharing wide eyed, hands shaking — Sarah laid down on her bed like a goddess, her long legs intertwined, pointy chin resting on the back of her hand as she occupied herself looking through some collages. She belonged there, and it showed — the room was <em> hers</em>. Her colorful artwork on the walls, her blank canvases piling up by the door, her queen bed right in the middle as the other one, a single, was pushed to the side. </p><p>Sarah had taken a whole ten seconds only to remove her eyes from the papers underneath her and to focus them on the curly haired girl standing by the white door with black, blue and red writings and drawings all over it. She didn't make any motion to move, but she did place some strands of short, platinum blonde hair behind her very much pierced ear before saying ‘’Hey. Kie, right?’’</p><p>The nickname stuck, and so did Sarah. </p><p>Admittedly, she had been walking through campus in a hurry — she hadn’t seen Sarah all break, since the blonde haired girl had vacationed with her stepmom and siblings in Nassau, and therefore Kiara could barely contain her excitement when it came to giving her only girlfriend a hug and hearing all about her tropical adventures. </p><p>Kiara had even prepared a special playlist for this very moment. The week before returning to GSU, she had reached the conclusion that The Who would be the ideal band for a first day back soundtrack, and it was her favourite part of Baba O'Riley that played loudly at the time she collided head first with some guy's chest.</p><p>Kiara fell down on her butt with the impact, her Tupperwares thrown all around the muddy grass — bye, bye, peanut butter scones, funfetti cupcakes, buttermilk biscuits and ginger cookies —, and didn’t take long to make sense of the laughter echoing around her. A group of students tiptoed around her body, but weren’t as considerate to her baking goods.</p><p>The boy did not fall down, though. Sitting down on the recently sprinkled lawn, wet muddy spots forming on the back of her jean shorts, Kiara could see his worn out black boots and dark grey pants standing still in front of her, and his voice sounded low and husky when he yelled out ‘’Are you insane? Do you not watch where you're going?’’</p><p>Kiara scoffed, squinting only to take a better look at the boy in front of her. ‘’Well, I'm fine, thank you for asking.’’ </p><p>Only then the blond haired boy seemed to process the fact that he should probably give her a little hand, and drew out his arm to help her up. He wore a red and black flannel shirt a number too big for him, while Kiara immediately regretted her choice in light wash jean shorts and a white The Smiths shirt — most of her clothes, sneakers, and even her thighs and elbows were surrounded by a thick, smelly layer of mud and God knows what else.</p><p>‘’Fuck, I’m sorry.’’ He took his hand up to his hair and messed with the long blond strands, making him look even more disheveled than he did before. ‘’You look like shit’’</p><p>Kiara put her hands on her hips defensively. ‘’<em>Excuse you</em>, it’s not my fault you just bumped into me’’   </p><p>‘’Hey, you bumped into <em> me</em>,’’ he said very matter-of-factly, which seemed to piss Kiara off even more. ‘’But I didn’t mean you, I meant your clothes.’’</p><p>Well, he was not wrong. Before she could think of a good enough comeback, though, the boy started unbuttoning his flannel — he wore a simple black shirt underneath, and she could see he had a half sleeve tattoo and some more on both his hands and fingers. </p><p>He handed the piece over to her. ‘’There you go.’’ He said after her gaze lingered on his stretched out hand a little too long. </p><p>Kiara made a point of not saying <em> thanks </em> when she took the flannel from his hands. His husky voice soon filled the air, though "I like your shirt, I hope it's not ruined," he said. ''<em>Now I know how Joana d'Arc felt</em>.’’</p><p>In any other circumstance, Kiara would have smiled at someone quoting Bigmouth Strikes Again lyrics, but while buttoning the unknown boy's shirt, she remained serious. He didn’t look intimidated by it, and kept his blue eyes on her as she worked the buttons.</p><p>But if the shirt was too big for the boy, who was at least half a feet taller than Kiara, in her it looked more like a clumsy hospital gown. Her hands were barely halfway up her sleeves, and she stretched her arms, swinging the loose ends in circles, making the boy laugh.</p><p>‘’It’s not funny.’’ She scolded, although part of her might have wanted to laugh at it too.</p><p>He then approached, dodging the smashed together baked goods thrown around the wet grass, and stood so close to her she could tell he smelled of coffee — the not so good one from the food truck on campus — and mints — the kind you get from a glass bowl in the counselor's office.</p><p>‘’May I?’’ The boy asked, pointing at the way-too-long sleeves. Kiara agreed with only a nod.</p><p>He rolled up the left sleeve first, then the right, stopping only when the fabric ended right at Kiara’s elbows. He pulled them gently to ensure that they would not slip through the girl's arms as soon as she moved. ‘’Better?’’ He questioned, and Kiara almost said <em> yes, very</em>, but instead tightened her lips just the way her mother did when she was angry at her dad.</p><p>‘’I guess.’’</p><p>And as Kiara attempted to collect her thoughts, the boy was suddenly surrounded by a small group of boys — two of them, to be exact. Both had their arms covered in black and white tattoos, a collection of metallic rings on their fingers and messy hair that couldn’t be contained by the snapback hats they wore.</p><p>The boy with the face covered in light brown freckles was the first to speak, eyeing Kiara up and down. ‘’Damn, bro,’’ his words were directed at his blond friend, but his brown eyes didn’t leave Kiara’s covered in dirt legs. ‘’We leave you alone for ten minutes and you mud wrestle with a girl’’</p><p>The three boys immediately occupied themselves with some bantering that seemed quite familiar and light hearted, and Kiara took that as a cue to leave. She grabbed her eco bag and the Tupperwares — leaving behind the smashed, brown dough that was once a thought out assemblage of baked goods —, doing her best to walk properly even with the mud in between her legs sticking them together.</p><p>‘’I didn’t catch your name.’’ The voice she knew belonged to the blond boy, even though she had already turned her back to the trio, called out for her.</p><p>‘’That’s because I didn’t tell you.’’ And she didn’t look back, not even for a moment, but could still feel his baby blue eyes burning holes through her. </p><p> </p><p>• • •</p><p> </p><p>Sarah had had a good laugh that morning, as soon as she caught sight of Kiara. ‘’Your first semester, you wear that God awful GSU freshman shirt. Your second semester, your backpack ripped and your bras and panties were flying all over campus. And now, <em> this.</em>’’</p><p>‘’It’s the first day curse, I’m telling you.’’ Kiara said, shoving all of the muddy clothes into a plastic bag. </p><p>The flannel, though, she kept. It wasn’t that big of a campus, so it was possible that she’d run into the boy again and he’d ask for it back — so, she might as well fold it carefully, just the way her mother taught her, and keep it deep inside her new <em> Bahamas, baby! </em> tote bag. Just in case. </p><p>But three weeks later, she still had not seen the blond haired boy around. Not that she was <em> sad </em> about it or anything, but the flannel had started weighing heavy, and she simply wanted to give it back. Well, she wouldn’t just throw it away, would she? And her closet was already full enough as it was, having to share it with Sarah — she was interested in a boy from her Art History class, and that apparently meant way too many new summer dresses and crop tops.</p><p>As Sarah seemed to keep herself busy running around with the mysterious boy, Kiara took a new hobby: binge-watching every season of Game of Thrones in her dorm, under a pile of blankets even though it was 80 degrees and eating too much ramen for her own good. </p><p>And, of course, as she reached the Red Wedding episode at one in the morning, it’s not as if she could just stop watching — so she watched one more, and then another one, and about half of the next one before she finally fell asleep, only being awakened about five hours later with Sarah’s hand shaking her shoulders.</p><p>‘’Sarah, what the fuck?’’ Kiara grunted, attempting to cover her face from the blinding light coming from the open window with her favourite fuzzy blanket.</p><p>‘’Dude, it’s Thursday. Don’t you have lab with Mrs. Linden today?’’</p><p>
  <em> Oh, shit. </em>
</p><p>Kiara jumped out of bed, nearly dropping down to the floor and taking Sarah with her in the process. Usually she wouldn’t worry too much about arriving a few minutes late to class, or even skipping a class or two in the semester, but Mrs. Linden was the one professor Kiara couldn’t seem to get away from — nicknamed <em> the devil reincarnated </em> by fellow students, Mrs. Linden was infamous for the highest failure rate in the history of GSU, and missing her first lab of the semester was sure to warrant Kiara a failing grade. </p><p>She couldn’t even make sense of babbles as she struggled wiggling out of her comfortable pajamas, choosing the quickest items of clothing she could possibly grab — the oversized The Smiths shirt she had managed to mostly rid of the mud stains, her favourite yellow Vans and baggy running shorts she only ever wore for trips to the grocery store. </p><p>‘’Kie,’’ Sarah tried getting her attention as Kiara attempted to gather her keys, phone, wallet— ‘’Kie!’’ She said again, louder this time, but Kiara was already out the door with a quick Sorry, <em>'Sorry, I can’t right now, we’ll talk later</em>'.</p><p>Kiara had exactly eighteen minutes to get all the way across campus, and it was good that she was wearing her running shorts. She sprinted through the gardens, doing her best as to not step on the flowers, and must have caused at least half a dozen students and faculty to drop their morning coffee.</p><p>She made it with thirteen minutes to spare, and even allowed herself a quick break outside the glass door to gather her breath before entering.</p><p>‘’And what do you think you’re doing, young lady?’’ A wrinkled hand with long fingers stopped her from entering the ethereal, chemical smelling room. </p><p>Mrs. Linden, in all her glory. Thick, raven coloured hair pulled up in a tight bun, thin square shaped glasses placed at the tip of her witchlike nose. ‘’Do you not know about proper lab attire?’’ The woman’s round, grey eyes stared right at Kiara’s bare legs.</p><p>So much for athletic attire. Kiara’s brown eyes widened in shock, going from the disapproving look clear in the professor’s face and the room already filled with students. ‘’I can go change.’’</p><p>Mrs. Linden smacked her lips, letting out a short but loud noise Kiara was sure would hunt her dreams. She also had her wrinkled hands resting strictly on her hips, and had to check the large wall clock inside the lab to say ‘’Well, if you can change and be back in ten minutes, you’ll be welcome to join us.’’</p><p><em> Fuck, fuck, fuck</em>. There was no way she’d manage to run back to her dorm, change into a pair of pants and run back to the lab in less than the minutes. In desperation, she grabbed her phone inside the Bahamas tote bag she’d been carrying around everywhere for the past couple of weeks, one single message sent four minutes ago lightning up the screen.</p><p><b>Sarah C </b><b>[8:40am]</b> <em>can you even wear shorts for lab???</em></p><p>Kiara typed back as quickly as possible, making so many typos she could only hope Sarah understood what she was trying to say.</p><p><b>Sarah C </b><b>[8:47 am]</b> <em>sorry babe, I already left, I’m supposed to meet you know who </em>wink wink<em>. </em></p><p>And just like that, Kiara was fucked. There was no better way to say it — she was utterly, completely, undoubtedly fucked. Not even a whole month into the semester, and one of her six classes was already a certain fail.</p><p>
  <b>Sarah C </b>
  <b>[8:47 am]</b>
  <em> can’t you borrow it from someone?</em>
</p><p>Kiara looked around, trying to recognize one of her friends — or not hers, per se, but Sarah’s, people she hadn’t exchanged more than a few words with over the last two semesters she’d been at GSU but might find it in their hearts to help out a friend of Sarah’s. No luck — dozens of unknown faces all around, girls in summer dresses and short skirts, boys in boardshorts and cut off jeans.</p><p>And then, in the sea of bare legs, a pair of dark grey pants she didn’t quite recognize from far away — broad shoulders, tattooed arm and messy blond hair her brain only seemed to process when she came face to face with the boy.</p><p>‘’<em>You </em>again.’’ He said with a half smirk at the exact same time she yelled out ‘’I need your pants.’’</p><p>His baby blue eyes widened, and a small group of girls that had been passing by giggled at the interaction. ‘’Excuse me?’’ He asked, not quite sure if he had heard her right.</p><p>‘’I really, really need your pants right now.’’ She rambled as the boy looked at her head to toe in a failed attempt to make sense of what the hell was going on.</p><p>‘’At least buy me dinner first.’’</p><p>She rolled her eyes, defensively crossing her arms tight against her chest. ‘’I need to get into lab and I can’t do it without <em> your </em> pants.’’</p><p>‘’Oh, <em> my </em> pants,’’ he teased, and she wanted nothing but to wipe that smirk off his face. ‘’Let me guess, Mrs. Linden?’’</p><p>Kiara nodded, and as the sun hit his face just right, she couldn’t help but notice how long his eyelashes were. <em> Wait, what</em>?</p><p>‘’Yeah, that woman is a witch.’’ He whispered, almost as if he was afraid the professor would be able to hear him.</p><p>‘’Does that mean you’re going to help me, then?’’</p><p>‘’Sure,’’ he shrugged, but the smirk still plastered on his face proved he had a different idea. ‘’But on one condition.’’</p><p>Kiara was used to boys like him. Tall, handsome, confident — girls stared at him with heart eyes wherever he went and he knew so. He enjoyed it, actually. Would look straight into their eyes with that same closed-lip, half smile he was using on Kiara and mutter nothing but a quick <em> hey </em> or <em> sup</em><em>? </em> as he went on his way. </p><p>It’s safe to say she had been expecting his one condition to be something revolting such as <em> as long as you let me watch you change </em> or <em> only if I get to touch your ass in the bathroom</em>, so she was somewhat pleasantly surprised when the words to come out of his mouth were ‘’Tell me your name.’’</p><p>‘’My name?’’ Her left eyebrow went higher than the other in confusion, and he nodded.</p><p>‘’So I don’t have to keep thinking of you as The Smiths girl. Or the mud girl.’’</p><p><em> So you’ve been thinking of me </em>, she wanted to say, but held it in. She had more important things to do at the moment other than flirt with a tall, handsome blond boy who was about to literally give her his pants. </p><p>His had less of a grin and more of a boyish, enthusiastic smile when she said ‘’It’s Kiara. Or Kie. Some people just call me Kie.’’</p><p>‘’Nice to meet you, Kie,’’ he said, quickly realizing he was also yet to introduce himself to the girl. ‘’And I’m Jonathan. Or JJ. <em> Everyone </em> just calls me JJ.’’</p><p>And with no time to waste, she couldn’t take a second to think about the way his long, calloused fingers lingered on her back as he led her into the closest bathroom, and how it was kind of adorable that he didn’t complain about having to wear her running shorts — in fact, as he came out of the stall and stared at his reflection in the mirror, the tight shorts leaving very little to the imagination, the only words out of his mouth were ‘’God damn, I look hot.’’</p><p>He also helped her roll up the jeans all the way up to her ankles so that she wouldn’t risk <em> tripping and falling on her face </em> — his words —, and the similarity of the moment to the previous time the two had met — or, more so, <em> collided </em> — wasn’t lost in them. </p><p>‘’Now you’ve got my favourite flannel and my favourite pair of jeans,’’ he teased, opening the door of the bathroom wide open to allow her through. ‘’What’s next, my Nikes? I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think they’ll fit your tiny feet’’</p><p>She thought of the flannel that was currently folded inside her bag, right under a pile of Chemistry books and too many random items. She could’ve given it back to him right then, but decided against it — after all, she’d have to return the pants and get back her only pair of running shoes, right? Might as well kill the bird with one stone.</p><p>So, instead, before entering the lab with nothing but one minute to spare, she took a permanent marker from her bag and pulled his bare arm towards her, finding a small space that wasn’t yet covered in tattoos to write her number. </p><p>‘’Thanks for the pants.’’ She said, with her back already turned.</p><p>‘’Hey, anytime. I mean it.’’ He yelled out in return, welcoming the laughs and joking whistles as he walked around with half his ass exposed.</p><p> </p><p>• • •</p><p> </p><p>JJ made use of the phone number written in black on his forearm for the first time that same day, no more than a few minutes after Kiara closed the door to the classroom. And not that Kiara was an avid texter — in fact, that was one of Sarah’s biggest complaints about her best friend and roommate —, but for some reason that Kiara was yet to understand, conversation seemed to flow pretty nicely with the blond boy.</p><p>And it’s not like they were flirting or anything, like Sarah had accused her of one night when Kiara had her eyes glued to her phone’s screen and a smile plastered on her face. They had yet to set a date to meet and exchange the items of clothing, so mostly they talked about Game of Thrones (which them both liked), Harry Potter (which Kiara liked, but JJ had never read the books or seen the movies) and Star Wars (which JJ liked, but Kiara not so much). </p><p>They also talked about music a lot. Even though Kiara’s plan was to pursue a Marine Biology Major and JJ was going for a degree in Business Administration —<em> I want to own a whole ass chain of surf shops all over the East Coast</em>, he told her once —, they both shared a passion for music. </p><p> </p><p><b>JJ </b><b>[1:13 am]</b> <em>I’m listening to Pink Floyd. </em>Wish You Were Here</p><p><b>Kie </b><b>[1:14 am]</b> <em>ok?</em></p><p><b>JJ </b><b>[1:14 am]</b> <em>made me think of you</em></p><p><b>Kie </b><b>[1:16 am]</b> <em>really? and why is that…</em></p><p><b>JJ </b><b>[1:16 am]</b> <em>because it’s my favorite. and I wish you were here </em></p><p><b>Kie </b><b>[1:19 am]</b> <em>God, is that you trying to flirt?</em></p><p><b>JJ </b><b>[1:19 am]</b> <em>nope, that’s me missing my flannel. I was talking about her</em></p><p><b>Kie </b><b>[1:21 am]</b> <em>your flannel is a she, then?</em></p><p><b>JJ </b><b>[1:22 am]</b> <em>yes, and I’m sure she misses me terribly</em></p><p><b>Kie </b><b>[1:27 am]</b> <em>well, we might need to figure out a way to get her back to you, then</em></p><p> </p><p>That same day, Kiara received another text from JJ: an invitation to a party on Friday, at a frat house on campus. She had already heard of it — Sarah was always invited to the Kappa Gamma infamous ragers, even though she never actually went to one. <em> Kie, you will not catch me dead in a room with that much testosterone</em>, she had said more than once.</p><p>It wasn’t exactly Kiara’s scene, either. Even back in high school, she was known to pass up on keggers and pool parties at her classmate’s houses when their parents were away — but this was college, after all, and she did promise herself she’d try to get a little more out there this semester. </p><p>Besides, getting to meet the blond boy again wouldn’t be <em> too bad </em> — he felt like he could really become her friend, and it’d be good for her to have a friend other than Sarah, considering all the time she seemed to be spending with her new mysterious boyfriend. That’s all Kiara really wanted, she figured. A nice, handsome blond boy with baby blue eyes who loved the sea and The Smiths and would wear women’s running shorts unapologetically to be her friend.</p><p>Therefore, JJ was completely unrelated to the reason why she allowed Sarah to lend her a navy blue dress with thin straps that was just a little too tight and a little too short. ‘’Kie, you always look pretty, but now you look hot<em>’’</em>. Sarah announced like a proud mom as she used the curler and the setting spray on Kiara’s hair.</p><p>The blonde argued when Kiara picked the same casual <em> Bahamas, baby! </em> tote bag she wore every day, but gave up when the girl abandoned the sparkly high heels Sarah had gotten out of her closet and chose a pair of simple white sneakers instead. ‘’You can be so difficult, Kiara Carrera.’’</p><p>‘’Hey, cool sneakers.’’ Was the first thing JJ said as she walked through the door, even though his eyes struggled to not stare right at her cleavage.</p><p>‘’Hey, eyes up here, <em> Jonathan</em>.’’</p><p>It was a three-story house with a kilometer-long garden with a pool, hot tub and professional bar. Sarah was right — the whole place smelled of testosterone, dozens of shirtless, sweaty boys talking way too loudly and already a bit too drunk considering how early in the night it was. </p><p>JJ seemed to fit right in. He was greeted by the kids in polo shirts, the ones wearing sport jackets and the ones with the thick-framed glasses — he knew all of their names, too, and they knew his. He quickly grabbed a hold of Kiara’s hand, though, and she cringed thinking about how sweaty her palm was, not entirely comfortable being around that many people.</p><p>He was like a boy showing someone his favourite toys when it came time to introduce Kiara to his two friends — the ones she had kind of met a few weeks before, when she bumped into JJ. </p><p>‘’It’s the mud girl!’’ The boy with the freckles and the bandana tied around his upper arm yelled out.</p><p>‘’It’s Kiara, right?’’ The other boy corrected, and she immediately appreciated how warm and honest his smile felt.</p><p>‘’Kie.’’ She said, stretching out her hand towards each of the boys, one at a time. The one she found out to be John B  — <em> That’s why you call me JJ, and not Jonathan</em>, the blond boy whispered in her ear — had a firm handshake, while the other one, Pope, was softer, almost comforting as they were engulfed by the sea of people.</p><p>And for the most part, she did like them — Pope especially, because he joined her in making fun of how JJ had never watched the Harry Potter movies. </p><p>‘’Maybe you can convert him, Kie,’’ he said at some point, and JJ rolled his eyes light-heartedly. ‘’I’ve been trying for years.’’</p><p>They then engaged in a heated discussion over which Hogwarts Houses they would belong to. John B was adamant that he was a Gryffindor, through and through, and Pope sighed as if they had had that same argument plenty of times before. ‘’Well, let me guess you, Kie,’’ Pope thought for only a second before his big eureka moment ‘’Ravenclaw!’’</p><p>Kiara giggled. ‘’That obvious, huh?’’</p><p>The whole time JJ was sitting down on the leather couch, his arm casually placed around Kiara’s waist. Every now and then he’d mutter the words <em> nerds </em> and <em> geeks</em>, failing at his attempt to hide them with fake coughs — but whenever he did so, he’d have a plain smile on his face and would be staring straight down at Kiara’s lips.</p><p>They also drank a little, but only beer, and when Kiara stopped right after her third cup, so did JJ. He didn’t seem to be interested in much more other than the curly haired girl, brushing off whoever tried to bring into a game of beer pong or drunk Jenga. And, whether she’d dare to admit or not, she liked it — the way his gaze lingered on the skin of her neck for a bit too long and how he actually paid attention to whatever it was she was saying. </p><p>He was good. So good that, when he took her hand into his and led her up the stairs and inside the last room at the end of the hall, on the second floor, she didn’t protest. </p><p>‘’Pope really liked you,’’ the boy announced, and Kiara felt a strange sense of pride. ‘’John B too, you know? He’s just quiet like that.’’</p><p>She took a good look at the room. It was big — bigger than hers and Sarah’s, undoubtedly —, the walls were painted a dark navy blue and apart from a few empty beer cans and greasy pizza boxes piling up by the metal trash can, it was pretty clean. The wall by the double bed was covered in torn posters — urban scenery, music albums, vintage horror flicks — and polaroids — some of a woman who had eyes the same colour as JJ’s, some of Pope and John B, others of surfboards and crashing waves.</p><p>‘’This is your room,’’ Kiara thought out loud, and the boy confirmed with a nod. ‘’Didn’t peg you for a frat kind of guy.’’</p><p>He walked towards the dark wood wardrobe and opened the left door, flaunting a hidden mess of dirty clothes turned upside down. ‘’John B wanted to join and I guess I just went with it, you know? We’ve been friends since we were kids.’’</p><p>Her running shorts were the only thing in the wardrobe that seemed to be carefully placed and folded. He handed it to her with a smirk as she continued to look through his collection of polaroids ‘’I washed it for you.’’</p><p>‘’So you <em> can </em> do laundry.’’ She teased, taking the item of clothing in her hands. The fabric was soft and smelled of lavender.</p><p>‘’Hey, it ain’t easy being a bachelor, all right?’’ He justified, his hands hidden in the pockets of his ripped jeans. </p><p>Kiara reached into her bag and pulled both the red and black flannel and the dark grey pants she had been keeping hostage for a few weeks. He only took the pants, though, and when she looked down at the shirt still in her hands in confusion, he shrugged ‘’Keep it. Looks better on you, anyway.’’</p><p>‘’And here I was thinking you only invited me tonight because you missed your shirt so bad.’’ She said light-heartedly, but his pupils were darkened when he closed the distance between them and stared down at her glossy lips.</p><p>‘’No. I invited you because I think you’re cool as shit, and you have a badass taste in music, and I think we’d be really fucking good together.’’</p><p>And that’s right about when Kiara jumped his bones. She couldn’t explain it even if she tried, really — but what could she do if the heat in her lower abdomen was fogging her brain? Besides, she couldn’t even find herself to care when he attached his chapped lips to her glossy ones and his tongue swiped across her lips slowly before slipping in her mouth. He tasted of smoke and beer, and the way he places his fingers just above her hips made Kiara squeeze her legs together in anticipation.</p><p>He broke the kiss for a moment, lips red and swollen. ‘’God damn it Kie, you’re so fucking hot.’’ She smiled, noticing the tent beginning to form in his pants when he firmly grabbed her waist and backed her up against the wardrobe. </p><p>His lips found their way to her neck — he nipped and sucked on her, leaving a trail of love bites all the way from her ear to her collarbone. JJ only paused the attack on her neck to bring his own fingers to his mouth, licking them thoroughly, and her breathing went shallow when his hands abandoned the tight grip on her waist and moved to her breasts, his fingers going into the low cut dress and rubbing her nipples.</p><p>‘’Is this ok?’’ His voice was muffled against her neck, the girl left so breathless from the overstimulation she could do nothing but nod <em> yes, yes, fuck yes </em> and let little whimpers escape her dry throat. </p><p>JJ knew how to put his hands for good use, that’s for sure. And his hands, too. And everything else.</p><p>His calloused fingers trailed past the hem of the silky dress to lay on the bare skin in between her thighs. The breathy moan Kiara let slip when JJ’s index finger traced her clothed core was more than enough encouragement for the boy to continue his exploit, his desperate and muffled<em> I can’t believe you’re so wet for me, Kie </em> and <em> I’m gonna make you feel so fucking good </em> forcing Kiara to throw her head back and close her brown eyes shut. </p><p>‘’Tell me what you want.’’ He asked, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts and control her erratic breathing. She looked right into his eyes, a fire in his gaze, when she managed to not much other than whisper ‘’I want you to make me cum.’’</p><p>JJ smirked. ‘’Yes, ma’am.’’ He pushed her panties to the side and the sudden presence of his long fingers against her sensitive skin made Kiara jump.</p><p>He was slow and gentle at first, controlling his urge to make her yell out his name by biting down on her shoulder. She was undeniably wet — in her defense, she hadn’t gotten much action in over a year —, but any chance of her being embarrassed by it went flying out the window when he collected the wetness in his index and middle fingers and brought them to his lips for a taste. </p><p>‘’You taste exactly like I thought you would,’’ he murmured, not wasting a second in bringing his hand back to where it belonged. ‘’Just like dessert.’’</p><p>His touches continued to be light and teasing, and Kiara started to consider begging him for more only a second before he finally slipped his index finger into her with ease. Kiara had to bite her lip to stop her from alerting the entire party of what was going on inside the room — so hard, she could taste the metallic of the blood escaping from her bottom lip.</p><p>Kiara needed more. Her hips moved involuntarily against his finger, attempting to find more friction, more pressure, more <em> something </em> — and JJ noticed her eagerness, because soon his middle finger found it’s way inside her. Taking from the high and throaty <em> fuck, J, don’t stop, please </em> that escaped her swollen lips, he assumed the circular, swirling motions of his fingers were doing a good job, and a cocky grin found its way back to his face.</p><p>Her hand found her way to his and she tugged at this long, blond strands, her hips rolling around his fingers. The speed he keeps is torturously slow, but when his two fingers find the front wall of her opening and caress the swollen spot rhythmically, she had to press her sweaty palm against her mouth to cover the loud yelling of JJ’s name.</p><p>‘’If you want me to let you cum,’’ he said taking her palm into his. ‘’You’re going to have to scream louder than that, baby.’’</p><p>And she was desperate for her release, so she did as he said so. Profanities and the boy’s name were the only things to escape her mouth, so loud her throat was sure to be scratchy the next morning — but Kiara couldn’t find herself to care, especially when he added a third finger and his thumb started drawing figure eights on her bundle of nerves.</p><p>She rocked down on him one more time before her abdomen was shaking, her toes curling and her mouth left hanging open. He kissed her hand, his fingers still inside her, helping her ride the wave of pleasure — and when he finally removed her, long after she had gotten out her last moan, the feeling of emptiness in her lower stomach was maddening. </p><p>Kiara could feel his member twitch against her bare leg, and wasted no time getting on her knees and palming him through his jeans. She locked her eyes with his, pupils dilated and darkened by lust. </p><p>JJ’s breathing was growing increasingly unsteady and she took her time unbuckling his belt. ‘’Not so fun when I’m the one making you wait, is it?’’ She teased, but JJ couldn’t bring himself to respond as she dragged the zipper down his painfully hard member. He rolled his head back, hitting the wardrobe’s wooden door when she pulled his jeans and grey boxers down in one swift movement, the red tip dripping with pre cum hitting his lower abdomen. </p><p>It made Kiara feel inexplicably thrilled that she was the one who had been able to arouse him that much. His baby blue eyes nearly popped out his sockets when she took the head of his member into her mouth, her right hand working the parts her throat couldn’t reach.</p><p>He let out a shaky breath and a wave of sinful moans that only urged Kiara to work her plump lips and her hands harder, faster, better. She could tell JJ was doing his best to stop his hips from rocking forward, not wanting to push the girl too hard — but she heard the message loud and clear, hollowing her cheeks to take in more of him.</p><p>‘’Fucking hell, you’re so good, so good for me.’’ He moaned loudly, and Kiara was pretty sure the entire second floor must have heard his desperate cries. ‘’I can’t believe I’m around your lips right now, <em> holy shit</em>, I’ve got to be dreaming.’’</p><p>Kiara couldn’t help but giggle with the boy’s babbles before she continued to focus on the task at hand. She felt his hard length twitch on her tongue and she moved it way up and down his shaft, his eyes closed shut as he whined and approached his much needed release. </p><p>‘’Kie, I’m gonna, I’m gonna—’’ he moaned, thinking Kiara might rather use only her hand to help his finish. She didn’t, though, and when the euphoric feeling took over his body his pulsing length stood in her mouth, the warm ropes hitting the back of her throat. ‘’That’s the hottest shit I’ve ever seen.’’ He breathed out as she let his member go with a loud pop and a mixture of saliva and his thick liquid dribbled down her chin.</p><p>As they both stared at each other with trembling legs and stars in their eyes, they knew that was the start of something big.</p><p>‘’Hi.’’ He whispered when she got up from her knees and threw her arms around his neck. </p><p>‘’Hi.’’</p><p> </p><p>• • •</p><p> </p><p>Funny enough, the next time they met up, it was on accident — Sarah had finally decided to introduce Kiara to her mysterious new boyfriend, and the guy would even be taking along a friend, as to not make the meeting awkward.</p><p>Well, turns out the guy was John B, and the friend— ‘’JJ?’’ Kiara asked in shock, disbelieved. His severe, slightly bored expression turned into a boyish smile when he heard her voice, and he went straight for a hug, pulling her off her feet.</p><p>‘’You two know each other?’’ Sarah eyed her roommate and her boyfriend’s childhood best friend, skeptical of the way her usually socially awkward friend found herself comfortable in JJ’s arms. </p><p>‘’Oh, they know each other, all right.’’ John B teased, unaware that this was new information to Sarah.</p><p>The afternoon wasn’t bad, really — they walked around campus, tossed coins into the fountain right by the food truck and stopped for some coffee and bagels. Thing is, it didn’t go unnoticed to Sarah how JJ would whisper into Kiara’s ear making her giggle and her cheeks turn pink, or how they were holding pinkies as they walked around, as if it was any less obvious than just holding hands. </p><p>‘’I did tell you I was kind of seeing someone.’’ Kiara argued later that day, as the reached their dorm room.</p><p>‘’Yeah, someone, not JJ Maybank.’’</p><p>Kiara suddenly felt very defensive of her boy — who wasn’t even <em> her boy </em>, for that matter. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her head tilted at an angle she only chose to use when she was angry, arms crossed over her chest.</p><p>Sarah, of course, could feel the tension, and she quickly added ‘’I like JJ, Kie. Really, I do. But he doesn’t do relationships, <em> ever</em>, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.’’</p><p>That wasn’t the easier thing to hear coming from her best friend, if Kie was being honest. After the night at the party she and JJ had continued to text — so much, in fact, she even had to get a new data plan —, but it’s not like he had gone out of his way to invite her on a date or to have <em> the talk </em>.</p><p>Maybe Sarah was right. From the first moment Kiara laid eyes on the blond boy, she had assumed he’d turn out to be your typical handsome heartbreaker who took pride in getting girls to fall for him — and no matter how much Kiara liked him, she wouldn’t allow herself to become one of those girls. No, no way. </p><p>She liked talking to him, and listening to him babble about surfing and The Who, and the way his rings felt cold against her skin when his fingers were inside her, but that was it, right? <em>She’s</em> the one who didn’t want a relationship, even. She was in control.</p><p> </p><p>• • •</p><p> </p><p>Over the course of the next couple of months JJ and Kiara found themselves in an arrangement that Sarah and John B like to call <em>a</em> <em>couple that’s not dating</em>. </p><p>He waited for her every morning outside her dorm with a pink drink in his hands, Kiara’s favourite, so he could walk her to class. They had lunch together every day under a willow tree, and then went back to JJ’s frat house so they could lie in bed for a quick study session — <em> for every question you get right, I’ll make you come once</em>, JJ had suggested once. And he did keep his promise — before spending the next few hours watching each other’s favourite films.</p><p>Recently, Kiara had gotten JJ to watch Harry Potter, and she had her head on his chest when the Prisoner of Azkaban credits started rolling. ‘’So, now can you agree you’re clearly a Gryffindor?’’ </p><p>Her boy was relentless. <em> The </em> boy, actually. ‘’I’m a Slytherin, through and through. And you, miss, are a Hufflepuff.’’</p><p>She couldn’t even bring herself to argue with him, not when his calloused fingers started drawing figures on her hips. Kiara knew what that meant, and she wasn’t mad about it.</p><p>‘’Don’t you ever get tired, Maybank?’’ She teased, hand already diving inside his boxers and feeling the hardness of his length fill her hand.</p><p>‘’Of fucking you? Oh, <em> never</em>.’’</p><p>More often than not the duo liked to take their time in bed, but this was not one of those times. They quickly wiggled out of their few pieces of clothing, JJ’s hand pressed against Kiara’s bundle of nerves as she climbed on top of him. </p><p>He reached for a condom on the bedside table, carefully tearing open the edge of the foil package with his teeth. She helped him roll it down over his erection with a sly smile that she knew drove him wild, and he was left overwhelmed even before she started working him.</p><p>Kiara traced open mouth kisses along his jaw, sucking and nipping in an attempt to mark him as hers. A faint, throathy <em>fuck,</em> <em>I can’t wait to be inside you</em> escaped his swollen lips, prompting Kiara to align her entrance with his pulsating tip and lower her body down until he bottomed out.</p><p>They groaned into each other’s mouths as they traded wet, sloppy kisses. He bit her lower lip, hands moving like clockwork over her ass, her thighs, her waist. Kiara made sure to keep an even pace at first, her body leaned forward slightly as to allow JJ to keep her left nipple in his mouth and her right one in his hand.</p><p>Kiara placed her hands on either side of him to steady herself as her bouncing movements fastened, back arched, head hung back in ecstasy and eyes closed shut. When his length found a certain spot in her and she screamed out his name, he picked up the pace and slammed into her harder, both their thrusts meeting in the middle.</p><p>He sat up so they were face-to-face, sweaty foreheads connected. His fingers found their way in between her bodies, the cold metal from his rings teasing her bundle of nerves effortlessly — the pace had turned devilish, Kiara’s nails dug into JJ’s back, sure to leave a mark. </p><p>‘’J, oh my God, I’m so close.’’ She yelled out, completely unable to slow down her sloppy movements right up until the moment she came apart with a scream.</p><p>‘’That’s it, there you go baby.’’ His voice was husky and his breathing erratic as he thrusted into her two more times before letting go.</p><p>They didn’t stop holding each other right away. He held onto her back, hot and heavy, and she gave into the exhaustion, head resting in the crook of his neck. </p><p>‘’I still can’t believe you’re my girl,’’ he left a chaste kiss on her forehead, but was immediately met with Kiara’s surprised expression. ‘’What?’’ JJ questioned with a worrisome look, wondering if he had done or said something wrong. </p><p>She ran her fingers through his hair and he relaxed into her touch. ‘’Did you just say I’m your girl?’’</p><p>‘’Well, yeah,’’ he mumbled, and Kiara could tell he was about to go on full JJ panic mode. ‘’I mean, not mine, mine, like, I don’t think you’re my property or anything, you know? That’d be wack. I just mean, I guess—’’</p><p>Then Kiara, in an attempt to take him out of his misery, took all the courage she had stored in her to look straight into his baby blue eyes, their bodies still connected, and said ‘’Well, I could be your girlfriend. I mean, I know you don’t really do that but, <em> I could</em>. If you wanted.’’</p><p>And he wasn’t uncertain, not even a little bit, not for a second, when he smiled and said ‘’Let’s get together, baby.’’</p><p>And perhaps Sarah wasn’t right about everything, after all — because just as much as Kiara was his, JJ was hers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>come cry about jiara (and way too many other ships) with me on tumblr 🤍 @jiaaras</p></blockquote></div></div>
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